MA-1 — Policy and Procedures

Official NIST control content

Control statement

a.Develop, document, and disseminate to [Organization-defined: organization-defined personnel or roles]:
1. 1.[Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy that:
  1. (a)Addresses purpose, scope, roles, responsibilities, management commitment, coordination among organizational entities, and compliance; and
  2. (b)Is consistent with applicable laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines; and
2. 2.Procedures to facilitate the implementation of the maintenance policy and the associated maintenance controls;
b.Designate an [Organization-defined: official] to manage the development, documentation, and dissemination of the maintenance policy and procedures; and
c.Review and update the current maintenance:
1. 1.Policy [Organization-defined: frequency] and following [Organization-defined: events] ; and
2. 2.Procedures [Organization-defined: frequency] and following [Organization-defined: events].

Official NIST discussion

Discussion

Maintenance policy and procedures address the controls in the MA family that are implemented within systems and organizations. The risk management strategy is an important factor in establishing such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures contribute to security and privacy assurance. Therefore, it is important that security and privacy programs collaborate on the development of maintenance policy and procedures. Security and privacy program policies and procedures at the organization level are preferable, in general, and may obviate the need for mission- or system-specific policies and procedures. The policy can be included as part of the general security and privacy policy or be represented by multiple policies that reflect the complex nature of organizations. Procedures can be established for security and privacy programs, for mission or business processes, and for systems, if needed. Procedures describe how the policies or controls are implemented and can be directed at the individual or role that is the object of the procedure. Procedures can be documented in system security and privacy plans or in one or more separate documents. Events that may precipitate an update to maintenance policy and procedures assessment or audit findings, security incidents or breaches, or changes in applicable laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines. Simply restating controls does not constitute an organizational policy or procedure.

Official OSCAL parameters

Organization-defined parameters

These values must be resolved through the organization’s tailoring and governance process. Bracketed parameter references in the control text identify where a decision is required.

organization-defined personnel or roles

personnel or rolespersonnel or roles to whom the maintenance policy is to be disseminated is/are defined;

personnel or rolespersonnel or roles to whom the maintenance procedures are to be disseminated is/are defined;

ma-01_odp.03

officialan official to manage the maintenance policy and procedures is defined;

frequencythe frequency with which the current maintenance policy is reviewed and updated is defined;

eventsevents that would require the current maintenance policy to be reviewed and updated are defined;

frequencythe frequency with which the current maintenance procedures are reviewed and updated is defined;

eventsevents that would require the maintenance procedures to be reviewed and updated are defined;

Original Bare Metal Cyber perspective

From control text to operational evidence

Use Policy and Procedures as a testable risk decision. Translate the official statement into accountable people, repeatable processes, configured technology, and evidence that demonstrates the outcome over time. In this family, pay particular attention to controlled maintenance, trusted tools, authorized personnel, and monitored support access.

Implementation workflow

Define the control boundary, responsible owner, inherited portions, and systems or processes in scope.
Resolve each organization-defined parameter before declaring the control implemented.
Document how the implementation satisfies every clause of the official control statement.
Collect evidence as a normal byproduct of operation rather than only before an assessment.
Review exceptions, changes, and monitoring results on a risk-based cadence.

Evidence examples

maintenance schedules and tickets
tool approval records
remote maintenance session logs
maintenance personnel authorization

Common failure patterns

vendor access left enabled permanently
unapproved diagnostic tools introduced
maintenance bypasses normal change control
remote sessions not monitored or terminated

Questions practitioners should ask

What risk decision is this control intended to support in this system?
Which parts are implemented locally, inherited, shared, or not applicable—and what evidence supports that decision?
Do the documented narrative, deployed configuration, operating process, and collected evidence agree?
What event or threshold requires the implementation to be reviewed or changed?

Official NIST SP 800-53A content

Assessment objectives and methods

Show the assessment objective

MA-01a.
1. MA-01a.[01]a maintenance policy is developed and documented;
2. MA-01a.[02]the maintenance policy is disseminated to [Organization-defined: personnel or roles];
3. MA-01a.[03]maintenance procedures to facilitate the implementation of the maintenance policy and associated maintenance controls are developed and documented;
4. MA-01a.[04]the maintenance procedures are disseminated to [Organization-defined: personnel or roles];
5. MA-01a.01
  1. MA-01a.01(a)
    1. MA-01a.01(a)[01]the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy addresses purpose;
    2. MA-01a.01(a)[02]the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy addresses scope;
    3. MA-01a.01(a)[03]the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy addresses roles;
    4. MA-01a.01(a)[04]the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy addresses responsibilities;
    5. MA-01a.01(a)[05]the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy addresses management commitment;
    6. MA-01a.01(a)[06]the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy addresses coordination among organizational entities;
    7. MA-01a.01(a)[07]the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy addresses compliance;
  2. MA-01a.01(b)the [Organization-defined: ma-01_odp.03] maintenance policy is consistent with applicable laws, Executive Orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, and guidelines;
MA-01b.the [Organization-defined: official] is designated to manage the development, documentation, and dissemination of the maintenance policy and procedures;
MA-01c.
1. MA-01c.01
  1. MA-01c.01[01]the current maintenance policy is reviewed and updated [Organization-defined: frequency];
  2. MA-01c.01[02]the current maintenance policy is reviewed and updated following [Organization-defined: events];
2. MA-01c.02
  1. MA-01c.02[01]the current maintenance procedures are reviewed and updated [Organization-defined: frequency];
  2. MA-01c.02[02]the current maintenance procedures are reviewed and updated following [Organization-defined: events].

Examine

Maintenance policy and procedures
system security plan
privacy plan
organizational risk management strategy
other relevant documents or records

Interview

Organizational personnel with maintenance responsibilities
organizational personnel with information security and privacy responsibilities

Official relationships

Related controls

These relationships come from the official OSCAL catalog. They indicate useful dependencies or context, not automatic inheritance or equivalence.

Source record

Authoritative sources

Bare Metal Cyber is an independent educational publisher and is not affiliated with or endorsed by NIST. Official control requirements and interpretations remain with NIST and the responsible authorizing organization.